Chapter 18 #2
“Remember when you were going to your first day of school and I told you that ships in the harbor were safe, but that’s not what they’re made for?”
She nodded.
“That describes you perfectly. Sure, you’re safe if you sit at home, where you know where everything is and you won’t bump into anything, but it’s boring. And you, my brave girl, weren’t meant to sit around and do nothing. You were born to do great things. Amazing things.”
Pyro saw her straighten, as if she was truly hearing him and taking him at his word. This girl was incredible. She made him want to be a better person. Stronger. Braver.
“I’m not scared,” she told him. “You said that if you pretend you aren’t scared, it makes you stronger.”
She was also a sponge, taking in everything she heard around her, and Pyro was once again amazed by her resiliency.
“That’s right, Bowie-Bear. And you’re the strongest girl I know.
Here’s the plan. There are quite a few windows in here, and you can totally fit through them.
You’re gonna crawl out and go toward the water.
The ocean. You’ll be able to smell and hear it when you get outside.
You just have to find the water and turn left.
When we got here, I heard music in that direction, and that means people.
Walk along the water until you find someone to help you.
Using the beach and the ocean to guide you so you don’t get lost.”
Bowie blinked, and Pyro held his breath. When they’d arrived, he’d heard the sound of water lapping on the shore, not crashing against rocks. Making him think the house was on a sandy beach of some sort. Since it was a rental, they probably advertised the beautiful beach on the property.
He could be wrong. The beach could only be a hundred feet long before it turned into a rocky, impassible barrier.
But honestly, telling Bowie to walk along the water was the only way to keep her safe.
If it was a beach, there should be few obstacles in her path, and maybe someone would be out for an early-morning swim or run.
They would find the little girl stumbling along, looking for help.
God, there were so many unknowns in his plan, and Pyro hated himself for asking Bowie to do this. He wanted to just hunker down with the hope that they’d be found before morning, but he couldn’t take the chance. Wouldn’t take that chance. Not with Bowie’s life on the line.
“I can’t swim good though.”
“You won’t be going into the water, Bowie-Bear.
You’ll just be walking alongside it. Remember when we were at the beach and we went for a walk, how the sand felt under your feet when we were close to the water?
How you could feel the waves coming up on the sand and then retreating back into the ocean? ”
She nodded.
“That’s what you’ll do this time too. Find the sand, find the water, then walk alongside it until you find someone who can help you. Call your mom. Have whoever you’re with tell her where you are. Walk slow and steady. Don’t run, don’t rush. Use your senses, Bowie-Bear. They won’t lead you astray.”
“What’s astray?”
“Off course. Away from the right path. You can do this. I know you can. Because Bowie Burns is amazing.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
She was breaking his heart.
“I know. And I don’t want you to leave me either, but you have to.”
“Because you’re hurt. And the bad men want to do bad stuff to us.
I heard them talking when we were walking to the house.
They said Colvin. That’s the man who was mean to Mommy in Gabon.
Who tooked our money. She was scared of him.
They said he was giving them lots of money for us.
They’re gonna get the money when their friend takes me away tomorrow.
I don’t want to go with them! I want to stay with you and Mommy!
” She had to take a few breaths, to calm herself down.
“I can do this, Kylo-Pyro. I’ll follow the water and make the bad men leave us alone. ”
A tear fell from Pyro’s eye as he listened to Bowie’s determination. He hated that she’d overheard the assholes talking about selling her, but he was beyond proud that she was being so brave.
“Are you going to marry Mommy?”
Pyro blinked at the abrupt change of topic, and he brought a hand up to his face to wipe the tears off his cheeks. “I want to very much, yes.”
“Will you be my daddy then? The one I had before wasn’t nice. But you are. I love you, Kylo-Pyro, and want you to live with us forever and ever.”
“I want that too, Bowie-Bear. I want that more than I can say.”
“Good. When we get home, I’ll tell Mommy and you guys can get married and you can be my daddy.”
The innocence of youth. Pyro never imagined he’d have such strong feelings for someone he’d known for such a short period of time. But he felt the need to caution her. “Your mom might not want to marry me. At least not right away.”
But Bowie actually smiled. “She does, silly! She talks to you the way she talks to me. All mushy-like. I can hear it in her voice. You love her, and she loves you. Getting married is what people do when they love each other.”
“Okay, Bowie-Bear.”
“Can we have chicken nuggets at the wedding?”
Pyro chuckled. “We can have whatever you want.”
“Goodie.”
He closed his eyes and prayed for forgiveness for what he was about to do. Send this innocent child out into the world with nothing but her hearing and sense of smell to guide her way.
“You ready?” he asked, before he changed his mind and kept her in the basement with him to meet whatever happened in the morning.
“Ready,” she said. Her voice wasn’t as sure as it had been, but she stepped away from him, giving him room.
He leaned over and it took a few minutes for him to undo the knots in the rope around his legs.
Every time he touched his shin, pain shot through his system, making him dizzy, but Pyro ignored it.
He had to stay strong for Bowie. At least until he got her out one of the windows.
Then he needed to get back to the chair and pretend he was still bound.
He’d have a bit of time to regroup before the men returned, he hoped.
The greater a head start Bowie had, the better the chances of her getting to safety.
Pyro took a deep breath and got to his feet. Well, his foot. His bad leg felt as if someone was stabbing it with a ten-inch blade.
“I’ll help,” Bowie said, putting her arm around his waist as she’d done when they’d walked into the house.
She constantly surprised him with her empathy and strength.
Having her as a tiny crutch gave Pyro just enough support to get to the wall and one of the windows facing the beach.
To his relief, he was able to unlock it easily and push it open.
It didn’t slide upward but instead swung up and out.
Giving Bowie even less room to slither out.
But she could do it. She had to. There was no alternative.
Leaning over, Pyro picked up the little girl and hugged her hard. The tears returned, and he didn’t bother trying to stop them from falling.
“I love you, Bowie-Bear. You can do this. I know you can.”
She sniffed, but the tears in her own eyes didn’t fall. “I can do it,” she echoed. “And I love you too, Kylo-Pyro. Do you think, when you and Mommy are married, I can make my name match yours?”
“What do you mean?”
“Bowie Mullins. Like you.”
Fuck. This girl. She was killing him. “If that’s what you want, we’ll talk to your mommy and see what she says,” Pyro promised.
He looked out the window and had to blink the tears out of his eyes so he could see.
“Okay, we’re at the back of the house. There are lots of trees to our left and right, but it’s clear in front of the window.
Stay on your hands and knees until you reach the sand.
Be careful, as I can’t see if it’s a drop-off to the beach with rocks, or if it’s a gentle slope.
You know you wouldn’t be doing this if I had another choice, right? ” Pyro couldn’t help but ask.
“I know. You’re hurt, too big to fit through the window, and the bad men are coming to take us in the morning. I can do this, Daddy. I know it.”
His heart broke in a million pieces at her words. “You bet you can,” he managed to say. “Be safe, Bowie-Bear. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Pyro’s arms felt like lead as he lifted Bowie toward the window. She felt all around it with her hands, seeing with her touch, then ducked her head. Pyro gently pushed, and before he was ready, she was out.
“I’ll send help,” she whispered, before she turned around and began to crawl cautiously across the grass behind the house.
Pyro stood at the window and watched her progress. It was slow and steady. Before he was ready, she disappeared down the slope that led to the beach.
He remained at the window for a few more long minutes, but she didn’t reappear.
God help him, had he really sent a blind six-year-old out into the world to get help? He was the worst soldier. The worst friend.
The worst…Daddy.
A sob escaped his throat, but Pyro didn’t bother trying to stop it.
He closed and locked the window before turning and hopping back to the chair where he’d been restrained.
He practically fell into it, then hunched over, burying his face in his hands as he cried his eyes out.
He hadn’t broken down like this since he was eight years old and told he was going back into the system, after the foster mother who’d cared for him for two long years passed away, and his grieving foster dad couldn’t keep him.
He’d been devastated then…but it was nothing like the feelings he suffered now. Dread. Remorse. Fear. Debilitating fear. Not knowing what Bowie was going through was torture. A kind of torment he hadn’t been trained to deal with.
By the time his tears dried up, his face felt swollen and he couldn’t breathe very well because of the snot in his sinuses.
He wiped his cheeks with his shoulders and took a deep breath.
He wasn’t ready to give up. If nothing else, he needed to survive whatever would happen in the morning so he could go out and find his Bowie-Bear. To apologize. To beg her forgiveness.
He did what he’d thought was best, but that didn’t mean he didn’t regret it. That he wasn’t second-guessing his actions. What would Penny say? Would she hate him for putting Bowie in such grave danger? For doing something so incredibly stupid?
Time would tell. But if he lived through this, if Bowie made it through this asinine ordeal unscathed, and if Penny forgave him—and that last one was a big if—Pyro would spend the rest of his days making it up to his girls.
Giving them the life they’d always deserved.
Full of love and laughter, and giving them everything their hearts desired.